Passover recipes: Part 2

Passover Recipes Part 2

With everyone is full-fledged Passover prep now, take a moment and look over these delicious recipes that come straight from some of Israel’s top chefs. Perhaps some of the recipes will work for one’s seder, if not, experiment and try them for a Passover meal. In any case, enjoy this special time with your families. Remember, these occasions are what memories are made of. Hag Sameach!

A Pesach Feast

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By Anna Harwood

Pesach need not be a time to compromise in the kitchen. It is still possible to serve a sumptuous feast while being careful not to include forbidden chametz. As Israel’s top hotels are gearing up for one of their busiest periods, executive chefs Moti Bochbut and Charlie Fadida from the Inbal Jerusalem and Sheraton Tel Aviv respectively, took time out to share a few of their most popular Pesach recipes.

Seared salmon fillet on a bed of roasted eggplant with peppers and tomatoes

Chef Moti Bochbut, Executive Chef Inbal Jerusalem Hotel

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets (with skin attached)
4 cloves of crushed garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil (plus extra for frying)
Bunch of fresh thyme, chopped
Juice of 3 oranges
1 cup white wine (Mount Hermon White recommended)
Salt, pepper
1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 3cm-thick rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
Radish sprouts or roasted pepper to decorate
Tomato sauce:
4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of fresh garlic
3 tablespoons white wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock
Salt, pepper

Preparation:

Soak the salmon fillets for around an hour in a marinade of the orange juice, white wine, garlic, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, fresh thyme, salt and pepper.

Make the sauce: Fry the onion and garlic with a little oil. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over a low heat until the liquid has absorbed all the flavours.

Use a hand blender to blend the sauce. Taste and season accordingly.

When the fish has finished marinating, pour a little olive oil into a hot pan and place the fish into the pan, skin side down. Cook for two minutes, flip and cook the other side for a further two minutes.

Place the fish to the side and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the fish for a further 4 minutes in the oven when ready to serve.

Fry the eggplant in a hot pan with a little olive oil on both sides until it turns a golden brown.

In a small pan, boil the vinegar and honey and then pour over the fried eggplant so that it can absorb the flavors.

To serve:

Place a slice of the roasted eggplant on each plate. Carefully place a fillet of salmon on top of each eggplant round and then decorate with radish sprouts or even a slice of roasted pepper.

Drizzle tomato sauce to the side of the fish and serve hot.

Wine Recommendation: This dish goes perfectly with the Yarden Chardonnay. The 2011 Yarden Chardonnay, which was recently released, is a classic medium to full bodied Chardonnay and is wonderfully flavorful. Its bright notes of lemon and lime are complemented by floral, pear, and peach notes making a smooth and eminently drinkable wine. Having been aged in oak barrels for seven months, hints of spice and French oak add a delightful additional layer to the wine. The Mount Hermon White, which is used in the recipe, available in all good kosher wine stores, also makes a delightful accompaniment to the meal. It is a deliciously tropical wine and its light herb notes will complement the fresh thyme in the marinade.

Roasted Shoulder of Lamb in a Root Vegetable Sauce

Charlie Fadida, Executive Chef, the Sheraton Hotel, Tel Aviv

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

8 slices of lamb shoulder (each 1/2 pound)
2 tablespoons potato flour
1/2 bottle of dry red wine
1 carrot
1 onion
1 root vegetable
1 stick of celery
4 garlic cloves
2 spoons of tomato paste
8 spoons of olive oil

Preparation:

Heat a thick-bottomed pan and add the 8 tablespoons of oil.

Flour the lamb and fry until golden on both sides. Remove to a separate dish.

In the pan used to fry the lamb, add the vegetables and fry for approximately 10 minutes.

Add the tomato paste to the pan and continue frying for another 5 minutes.

Add the red wine and heat until the wine has decreased by half.

Return the meat to the pot and add water until the meat is 3/4 of the way covered. Bring to the boil and season with salt and pepper.

Cover with aluminum foil and place in an oven, pre-heated to 350 °F.

After 2 hours cooking time, take the meat out and check that it has softened by pressing with finger. If so, remove from oven and serve.

Wine recommendation: Lamb is a delicious, tender meat which needs to be matched carefully with a fitting wine. The Yarden Merlot is up to the challenge with its deep and complex flavors. It is a full bodied and flavor-rich wine which has been aged for fifteen months in, primarily, French oak barrels giving the wine a background of rich oak to complement its delicious berry and cassis notes. The Yarden Merlot is also available in Magnum sized bottles providing a show-stopping centerpiece to accompany this elegant dish.

Belgian chocolate mousse served with a passion fruit drizzle, honey truffles and fresh dates

Chef Moti Bochbut, Executive Chef, Inbal Jerusalem Hotel

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Mousse
7 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1 cup white sugar
400g (about 1 pound) good quality dark chocolate
1/4 cup oil
2 packets (3 cups) of Rich Whip (non-dairy topping)
1/2 cup good quality brandy
Cocoa for dusting
(Piping bag required)
Truffles
210g (about 1/2 a pound) melted chocolate (dark or milk according to taste)
1/3 cup almond butter (or peanut butter if not concerned about Kitniyot)
4 teaspoons honey
Fresh Dates

Preparation:

Chocolate mousse:

Beat eggs, egg whites and sugar until it forms strong peaks.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Add the oil.

Remove from the heat and fold in the beaten eggs.

Beat the Rich Whip until firm and fold into the mixture.

Fill a disposable piping bag with the mixture and pipe mushroom-sized mounds onto a tray lined with parchment paper and dusted with cocoa powder.

Freeze until ready to serve

Truffles:

Melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Remove from the heat

Add the almond butter and mix until completely combined

Warm the honey and then add to the mixture, stirring until it begins to harden and become dough like.

Cool and form balls from the mixture.

Roll in cocoa powder and then store on parchment paper until ready to serve.

Add butter nougat and mix until a uniform texture.

Serving suggestion: Place 4-5 chocolate mousse balls on each plate with some truffles, fresh dates cut in half and passion fruit drizzled around the plate.

Wine recommendation: Such a stylishly presented dessert calls for an equally refined wine. The Yarden Muscat boasts an aromatic blend of fresh flowers, ripe tangerines, tropical fruits and baking spices. It is produced by adding oak-aged brandy early in the fermentation of the Muscat grapes, resulting in a fragrant and sweet wine with attractive notes of rich French oak. Pleasingly sweet but not cloying, this is an elegant and drinkable dessert wine.